The Eagle's Love
by xXxall.i.ever.wantedxXx
Summary: After Adha's death, Altair swore to never get close to another woman. However, one day Al Mualim told him that he had to safely escort a princess from Masyaf to Jerusalem. What will happen to them as they face the dangers of traveling together? I know this summary is pretty bad, but I tried. Rated M for adult themes and language. Altair/OC
1. Chapter 1

**Altair**

It has been two months since Adha died. In those two months I have been ruthlessly hunting down the Templar swine that were involved.

Their blood can't bring her back though. Nothing can.

After my targets were eliminated, I avoided women. I was scared of the same thing happening again. That, and I felt as though I could never feel that way for someone ever again. She was the one I thought I would finally settle down with. I could be happy with her. I could be a normal man.

I was staring up at the ceiling. It was too hot to sleep, even though I wouldn't sleep anyway. The bunks at the side of the castle were usually quiet, but on hot nights, you could hear the men tossing about and complaining. Directly next to my bed were two novices, chatting away at how excited they were to finally learn how to preform a leap of faith. Months ago, I would have offered them advice or rid them of any fear they possessed. However now, I felt too empty to even try.

Early the next morning, as I was getting dressed for a day full of teaching, I saw Malik approach me. "Al Mualim wishes to speak to you."

I nodded, going back to my previous task. I hoped that he wanted me to go out and hunt for more Templars, but one can never be too certain with him.

Once dressed, I made my way up to Al Mualim. He was standing by his desk, and behind him stood a man in foreign clothing. He was speaking in a tongue I could not understand. "You wished to speak to me?" I said, standing in front of Al Mualim's desk. "Yes, I have a task for you."

"Who do you want to see dead."

"You will not be killing anyone Altair, but instead you will be keeping someone alive."

I nodded. He had never given me this kind of mission before, so I was eager to see who I was to protect. He stood and gestured at the man who had spoken in a foreign tongue. "This man is from Norway, a country in northern Europe. His name is Loki Elstad." With that, the man, who was unnaturally pale in my eyes, stepped forward. "I am a knight, part of the king's personal guard. He sent me here because his daughter is being hunted by the Templars for showing interest in your ways. They fear that if an Assassin takes the throne, then Templars would be hunted down and slaughtered." Al Mualim nodded. "You are to take the girl to the Jerusalem Bureau and there you must then wait for my instructions. Am I understood?"

"Yes Master, I will not fail you."

I stood at the foot of the mountain, waiting for Loki to retrieve the girl. I was not comfortable with taking the girl to Jerusalem. I would first have to pass through Kingdom, which takes three days to get to. After that, it would be a five day journey to Jerusalem, if we weren't stopped by gaurds.

I finally saw Loki come out of the castle, and behind him followed a short woman. She had an athletic build, which was perfect in case we needed to run away or climb buildings, but as soon as I saw her hair, I knew we would not be able to stay undetected for long. She had long bright red hair which was braided. It would be ok if her hair were orange or a dull red, but her hair looked like blood. When they finally got to me, I saw that she barely reached my chest, and that her eyes were green..

**Naka**

I stood before this tall hooded man, nervously glancing around. Everyone was staring at me and my hair. I wanted to hide. I wanted to just run away. I would be a pain for this poor assassin, having to keep guards from remembering my distinct hair color. I mustered up what little courage I had and finally spoke. "I'm very sorry.." Even though it came out barely above a whisper, he looked down at me, surprised. "You needn't apologize. You've done nothing wrong." His voice hinted that he was ok with it, but his eyes showed that I was a nuisance to him. A child that can't protect themselves and therefore must be whisked away to nearest safe zone.

Loki, who had worried since we left Norway, seemed relaxed. He trusted this man. Since he didn't trust easily, it meant I should trust him too. I stepped up to the assassin. "I'm ready to go when you are." I tried in my best Arabic. He nodded, "The horse is all packed and fed. We should leave now so that we can reach Kingdom in two days."

"Horse? Not horses?"

"Should we be attacked, it would be easier if we're on the same horse to get away faster and not become separated."

"Very well, I understand."

With that, I turned back to Loki and hugged him as tightly as I could.

**Altair**

She wasn't a spoiled princess, as I thought princesses would be. She was extremely adaptable. She easily took the one horse thing in stride. She was educated too, and spoke Arabic very well.

I brought out a white horse from the stables and mounted it. I looked down at her, half expecting her to ask for help. It was a tall horse, and she was a short girl. "I got it.." She muttered, climbing up the horse in a fashion that looked uncomfortable. When she was finally on, we began our journey.


	2. Chapter 2

**Authors Note:**I'm really sorry that I haven't uploaded in a while. Obviously this is a mistake, seeing as I only have one chapter up. ANWAY, I will try to update more often, thank you for your patience :3

**Naka**

I've ridden horseback before, lots of times. However this time, it was different. We had left Masyaf before noon, and now it was almost sun down. I have never been on a horse for so long. My leg fell asleep about an hour ago and I've been fidgeting every now and then to wake it up. "What are you doing back there?" His sudden question snapped me out of my inner soliloquy and looked up at the back of his head. "Um, well...my leg fell asleep, so I'm trying to wake it up.."

"I see. You could have told me, I would have stopped and let you stretch your legs."

"I'm sorry.."

"Hm."

With that, the only conversation we had since we left died out.

**Altair**

As night fell, I realized that I had a girl with me. I couldn't just keep going through the night like I usually do on my own. Plus, if I were attacked at night, I'd be able to kill my attackers. I can't risk the girl's life though. I sped the horse up to a quick trot and started to look around for a place that we could sleep safely. Finally, my eyes caught onto the perfect place. Praise Allah for random haystacks placed under view points. I turned to tell her when I suddenly remembered that I didn't know her name. I looked forward and cleared my throat. "So, what's your name?"

Well. I guess she beat me to it.

"My name is Altair Ibn La-Ahad. Yours?"

"...Nakaba Lovik."

"How old are you? You look pretty young."

"I'm twenty-three."

"I see. I'm twenty-five."

"Oh. Thought you were older."

Not the first person to think that, I thought. "Anyway, we're going to stop here and rest for the night."

She nodded, and when we stopped next to the haystack. She slid off and winced in pain, cursing under her breath. I watched her limp over to the haystack and just fall flat onto it. Laughing on the inside, I slid off and tied the horse to a nearby tree. I walked over to her and knelt down, poking her softly. "Are you ok Nakaba?" I asked, a bit worried. She turned over, picking hay out of her hair and nodded. "Yes, I'm perfectly fine."

"I'm sorry about having to sleep out here. People aren't too hospitable around here."

"It's ok, it's not like I haven't slept outside before, or in a haystack. It's nothing."

"Alright, would you like a blanket? It's cold tonight." Which was complete bullshit, last night was unbearably hot.

"Um, well, no, it's too hot for me."

"What? How?"

"Norway is a very cold place. Cold to you is still pretty hot to me."

"I understand."

I stood and went to the other side of the hay, laying down. Staring up at the stars, I grew curious. How did she escape Norway? Templars were very powerful in Northern Europe, and I would have imagined that they'd have killed her by now. Then again, she's the daughter of a king. He has everything available at his fingertips.

I sighed and shook my head. I only need to worry about getting the girl to Jerusalem without a single problem. I turned to my side and was greeted by a pair of emerald eyes staring at me. "Is there a problem?" I asked. She opened her mouth as though to speak, but thought against it and shut it again. She then looked down at her hands, picking at her nails. The longer I stared at her, the more exotic she seemed to me. Sure, I'd seen women with green eyes before, but never had I seen a woman with such bright red hair. "Tell me, is red hair like yours normal in Northern Europe?"

"Um, yes actually. Most of us have Viking blood, and apparently the Vikings had red heads amongst them."

"I see. Your parents must be proud to have such a beautiful daughter."

She looked up at me, not the least bit embarrassed or shocked with my words, but her eyes hinted at sadness. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have spoken so boldly."

"No, it's quite alright. My mother has been dead for a long time."

"I see. Loki hinted that you were next in line to take the throne. No brothers or sisters?"

She hesitated, but finally shook her head. I didn't really know what it's like to lose parents that you're close to, so I couldn't say comforting words. Ashamed with myself, I turned onto my other side and fell asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**Altair**

I awoke to the sound of rustling clothing. I sat up, only to see Nakaba putting on her shirt. I couldn't really see anything, I was staring at her back, but I did notice whip lashes. Was this girl whipped as a child? Why would a princess be whipped? I stood up, brushing off all the hay, and walked over to her. "Good morning Princess." She looked up at me and smiled. "Sleep well Altair?"

"It was a cool night, so yes, I slept better than I usually do."

"Sounds like somebody has nightmares?"

I mounted the horse and shrugged. I wasn't going to deny or accept it. She didn't need to know. I helped her onto the horse, clicking my tongue so that it would begin walking. "We might make it to Kingdom by tonight, seeing as we woke up at dawn."

"I see, will there be Templars in Kingdom?"

"There might be. However there are more Templars in Acre than in Kingdom and Jerusalem combined."

"There are more Templars in where?"

"Acre."

"Why do you make that clicking sound?"

"Well..that's how I was taught to say it."

"I see, it's interesting."

"I suppose."

The conversation died after that, and we rode in silence.

**Naka**

For the rest of the day, we rode silently. It reminded me of the trip here from Norway, long and unbearably boring. I like to have fun, and was about to pull back Altair's hood and pull on his ears a bit, but I got scared. What if he freaks out and attacks me? What color hair does he have anyway?

"So why is it that you always have that hood up?"

"What do you mean?"

"You haven't taken the hood off, even while sleeping."

"Oh, well, I don't know, I guess I just like it on."

"Hm, why haven't we seen any guards?"

"We're still relatively close to Assassin territory, so if we run into guards, they wouldn't attack. They're allies. However they will in Kingdom, that's Templar territory."

I nodded and slowly moved my hands up to his head. Wrapping my fingers slowly around the back of his hood, I paused to see his reaction. He stiffened up a bit, but relaxed quickly. He gave a sharp nod and I pulled the hood down. He had short brown hair. He was normal. Just a shadow in a sea of people that looked just like him. Yet here I was, sticking out a sore thumb. "You're going to have trouble with me." I muttered under my breath. He shook his head and looked back at me, "We'll just have to fashion you a hood, you'll blend in. Trust me."

The strange thing about all this was that I felt so safe with this man. He was a perfect stranger to me, and it could be that he was a Templar in disguise, but he had a kind look in his eyes.

_**Altair**_

This girl was sad. Her actions and the way she spoke was evidence of this, and whenever she did something, she looked at me for permission. Was she not a princess? The would-be leader of an entire nation? Shouldn't she be the one bossing me around and doing as she pleased? Then again, she wasn't a spoiled princess.

As the sun set behind us, I pulled my hood up and set the horse into a quick trot. I turned around to apologize since we wouldn't be able to stop for the night, but saw that she had fallen asleep against me with the blanket over her head like a hood. Her face was relaxed, and I was pleased to see her this way. For a reason unknown to me, I wanted to see her this relaxed all the time. She looked much better this way.

Surprisingly enough, the trip through Kingdom was not as eventful as I imagined it to be. I was usually chased by three or four groups of guards, but they didn't seem to be paying any attention to me. Nakaba wore her makeshift hood the entire trip, and seemed pleased that she was out of sight. Arriving at Jerusalem was the overall highlight of the trip, due to the fact that as I was descending down the hill to the front gate of the city, I heard her gasp and mutter under her breath. "It's remarkable..."

"Yes I would imagine, I still remember the first time I saw this sight."

"How old were you?"

"Well, it wasn't that long ago, maybe a few months back I think"

"Wow, some memory you have there."

I glared back at her and she simply smiled up at me. Her smile was caught me off guard, every person that I glared at would either look away or cower. She simply accepted my short temper.

**Naka**

Altair tried so hard to scare me into submitting to him, it was adorable really. I've dealt with much more frightening men than he, my father was an example.

Jerusalem was...exotic. It wasn't what I'm used to, but it was beautiful nonetheless. Altair tied the horse to a tree near the gate and scammed the area. Suddenly, he turned to me and pointed at a group of scholars nearby. "Do you see those men?" He asked. I nodded. "We're going to sneak in by using them. Just follow my lead and you'll be fine." Again I nodded, and he led me toward the scholars. He held his hands in front of him in a praying position and lowered his head, easing himself into the crowd. I did the same, and thanked my lucky stars that I had my makeshift hood. The scholars went up to the guards standing at the gate and simply walked past. The guards ignored them and moved out of their way. I was amazed that this was so simple. Within a couple of seconds, we were finally in Jerusalem. My safe haven.


End file.
